


The Arrival, Not of Aliens or Angels This Time

by hapakitsune



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-12
Updated: 2013-07-12
Packaged: 2017-12-19 06:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/880320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hapakitsune/pseuds/hapakitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos and his scientists arrive in Night Vale</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Arrival, Not of Aliens or Angels This Time

The road into Night Vale is long and abandoned, so empty of people and even animals that Rose turns around from the driver's seat to say, "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"The GPS says so," Carlos says, holding it up as proof. It's been acting odd since they passed the last town, but it's at least still working. Carlos's watch had given out thirty miles back, whining and whirring before flickering out. He has marked it down in his iPad, along with the stories they've heard about Night Vale out at UCSD. 

"How much longer?" complains Rafael, stretching out in the back row, toes pressing into the side of the car. 

"Um." Carlos looks at the GPS. "Twenty-five miles."

Rafael groans and flops back. Carlos knows he should be annoyed too; they've been driving for what feels like days. They missed their turn-off four times, spent two hours circling what turned out to be Desert Bluffs, before finally managing to get on the road that dead-ends in the town called Night Vale. Carlos has been waiting for this – has been dreaming about this – since he first heard tales of the odd happenings out in the wastelands of California.

The sky outside fades from black to rich indigo as they pass a sign reading _Welcome to Night Vale_. Something thick and red drips from the corner of the sign, pooling on the dusty ground below. 

The radio clicks on, hissing static before a low sonorous voice crackles in.

"—the mayor said today –" 

"What's that?" asks Shane, leaning over Carlos's shoulder. Carlos pushes him away. "Nina?"

"Wasn't me," she says, lifting her hands. 

"—not to be afraid of the sideways rain –"

"Turn it up," Carlos says, leaning forward. 

Nina does, and the van is filled with static again before the voice comes back. "There is no reason to be afraid of your tap water. Ignore what the women in finely-tailored suits tell you. Your tap water absolutely does not contain nanobots designed to monitor your every movement. This announcement sponsored by the Sheriff's secret police."

"What the hell is this?" Rafael asks, pushing up on his elbows. 

"Some idiot college student, probably," Shane says. "Sounds like a pretty stupid prank."

"No, I've heard about this." Carlos gropes in the darkness of the van for his iPad and flicks through it for his notes. "Yes – every night, there is a community radio show that is highly encouraged listening for Night Vale residents."

"It sounds ridiculous," says Shane. 

"It sounds creepy," Rose says, and she shudders. "Are we sure we want to go here?"

"Guys, Night Vale has been the center of a number of bizarre happenings," Carlos says excitedly. "Imagine if we could uncover the reason!"

"Weird little town in the desert is weird," says Rafael. "Whoo, we're all getting tenure."

But Carlos can feel it in his bones that there's something more at work in Night Vale. He looks out the window as they start to pass buildings and people, the voice on the radio warning them not to stare too long at the sun on Thursday. It's a lovely voice, Carlos thinks to himself. Lovely and soothing. 

They rent a few rooms at the local motel until they find somewhere else to stay, and Carlos stares at the flowery wallpaper in the room he's sharing with the other boys for five minutes, trying to convince himself that the flowers aren't moving. But they are, slow, small motions that seem almost imperceptible until you start to look away. 

The motel owner directs them to Big Ricco's Pizza, after complimenting Carlos's hair an inordinate number of times, saying, "There's an old lab next door and you'll have to eat there once a week anyway; kill two birds with one brick." And then she smiles, teeth very sharp. 

Rafael deals with the leasing paperwork while Carlos and the other start looking around town. Rose won't stop shivering, even though the sun is shining bright and warm on their backs. Carlos offers her his coat, and she shakes her head before hunching over. 

"I don't like it here," she says. "There's something _wrong_ here."

"It's just a weird little town," Shane says, but he avoids the shadows of other people and crosses himself when they enter new buildings.

Within three days, Carlos has a list of fifty things he wants to investigate, the first of which is the odd development behind the abandoned elementary school. No one will tell them why the school was abandoned, and it smells like sulfur when the wind blows their way, but the development is more interesting at the moment to Carlos because it is not the size it should be. 

Carlos calls a town meeting on the suggestion of the old woman who they meet in the parking lot behind the Ralph's. Not many people attend – and none of city council is there, which he's later assured is probably a good thing – but they all seem interested when he introduces himself and Nina, the others having elected not to come. There _are_ a group of people in black suits at the back, watching him, but he ignores them as best he can.

There's one young man in particular, with sandy hair and glasses and farmer boy looks, that stares at him through the entire meeting and after as well when Carlos is complimenting the old woman's – Old Woman Josie, it turns out – corn muffins. He hovers around Carlos, anxious and hesitant, before blurting out, "Why Night Vale?"

His voice is melodious but strung with tension, and Carlos finds himself smiling, trying to put him at ease. "You are, by far, the most scientifically interesting community in the US, and I've come to study just what is going on around here."

The young man blinks and smiles tentatively. "Oh."

"This is young Cecil," says Old Woman Josie, holding out a corn muffin to the young man. "He does the radio show, you know."

"Oh!" Carlos looks at Cecil, who has shrunk back a little. "I've heard it. I like it."

"Oh," Cecil says breathlessly. "It's nothing. Just a little community radio show."

"You have a nice voice," says Carlos. 

"You have beautiful hair," Cecil says, and then he goes red, snatches the corn muffin out of Old Woman Josie's hair, and runs off. 

Nina comes to Carlos's side after talking to an energetic woman with hair longer than her body and says, "Who was that?"

"The radio guy," Carlos says. "Seems nice. A little weird, though."

"Sounds like most of this town," Nina says. She takes Carlos's corn muffin, bites into it, then makes a face. "Needs salt."

"The angels took my salt," Old Woman Josie says serenely. "Would you like to meet them?"

"Maybe later," Carlos says kindly. He looks down at his iPad. "We should go look at that development. I have a feeling about it."


End file.
